21: Mike Camillo of Flatironmike Customworks

Most of us have heard the tired old saw about life and lemons. If you haven't, ask Grandma to trot it out at your next family dinner. When the wizards of Wall Street were beginning to lose their Midas touch in 2007, New York City investment analyst Mike Camillo was among the first to feel the squeeze. Mike and his metaphorical bag of lemons bounced between odd jobs for a time, but found peace this year in the tiny garage behind his cozy Connecticut home. This installment of 21: is the story of how Mr. Mike and FIM Customworks came to be.

Name: “Flatiron” Mike Camillo

Age: 49

Business: Flatironmike CustomworksTown: Noroton Heights, CT

Co-workers: Mr. Finn

Riding buddies: Me, myself and I

First time on motorized two wheels: Minibike riding in my Grandfather’s backyard at the age of 5

First hand built motorcycle: the Mule in 2003Earliest two-wheeled adventure: Riding the dirt trails and jumps at the town dump with my beat-up Honda Scrambler in 1969, then watching my younger brother Jack fly over the handlebars after hitting a jump on the same bike. He would go on to do that with his bikes on the street for some time after thatMost recent two-wheeled adventure: EDR07 with many shorter runs/adventures since

Current stable of bikes and projects: No.3, Mule v2.0, Kinger, bone-stock ’85 Kawasaki ZL900 Eliminator, ’81 KZ1000 project. The Mule is currently on hiatus, posing as a roller

2. Here's a thought: I bet there's a ton of us on here that are working "day gigs" to fund our hobbies/passion. Can the guys like Mike who have successfully made the transition from working stiff to Captain Enviable start a thread to tell their story? You know, what you did before, how you made the change, how things are going now, tips/advice, etc.? I'd read that shit outta that thread!

new to this site. saw some of your stuff, vvvveeerrryyy nice. question, i see you put a 6 into 4 in the 2.0 bike... will that trans bolt right into my rather stock 56 pan without having to rework the world??